Podcast - Episode 48: Controversial Comics with Cal Johnston
/Comics have a long, proud history of dropping crazy stories on their readers. Some of these created a bit of a stir at the time. Sometimes that stir moved beyond the comic fandom and into mainstream media. And sometimes a comic that didn't cause much controversy at the time...just doesn't age well.
Dave is away this week but I was lucky enough to be joined by Cal Johnston, owner of Strange Adventures comic shops here in Halifax/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Strange Adventures are amazing comic book shops, and Cal is an awesome guy. I do owe a lot of my love of comics to Cal and Dave and the welcoming nature of Strange Adventures. Cal is very enthusiastic about comics, and shares his love of them in many awesome ways, from being incredibly generous on Free Comic Book Day, to organizing and financing DCAF, a free one-day comic fest that happens in Dartmouth every August. He has also helped the careers of several cartoonists, and is the cornerstone of the local comic scene here. Cal rules!
As I mention on this podcast, if you would like to learn more about Cal and his stores, you should listen to him on Sean Jordan's podcast, Weekend At Burgie's.
I mention a few good tweets from the comic book world this past week. You should read the entire thread of tweets from Kurt Busiek here.
And Gerry Conway had a bunch of great tweets on white male privilege, like this one:
Recognizing my white privilege is like recognizing one has ADHD. It helps me understand my own reactions. It helps me empathize.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) June 2, 2016
Gerry Conway, as it turns out, might be the most woke dude on Twitter (did I say that right?).
I also really enjoyed this Nick Spencer tweet:
Comics is the only medium that gets yelled at for pulling off big surprises. It's like going to a restaurant and yelling 'ugh, more food.'
— Nick Spencer (@nickspencer) June 2, 2016
Thanks for listening!